Washiitg-m achine



. uNirED srArEs PATENT @F.FCE@ J FREDERICK FENTRIssgoE CUILEORD COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.

WAsnnvelu'AOHINE.y

Specification of Letters Patent ,No 2,884, dated December 12, 1842.

To all whom t may concern.'

, Be it known that I, FREDERICK FEN'rRIss, of the county of Guilford and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful improvement in the mode of washing' and cleansing wearing apparel, bed-clothes, and any and all fabrics whatever that are necessary to be washed, and that the following is a` full description of the construction Vspace from the middle or cross piece to one end is to be filled up with a box marked A, A, made of planks in the shape of a mill hopper sloping from each end and angling about fifty degrees the sidesvto be made square or straight down by and with the side sills 4with a plank marked B,vlaid flat in the agle of the bottom, about four inches wide -to make it the more easy to force the clothes to turn over by being pressed with `Vthe wash boa-rds or beaters marked c-c c c.

There 4should be 4 pieces or strips of timber,-

o, a, one at each Aside of the box running' from 'the top to the bottom, or to the piece of plank Bythese may be about one fourth or Y one half of an inch thick, and about one inch wide vin order for the wash boards o o c o to slide up and downy upon. At the other end of the frame should be fixed a sh aft P, raised above the frame a few inches on two supports or posts, N, N. On'the shaft I), there l should be a crank D, at one end; it should have a handle O, to turn it by and at the other end it should be attached to a piece of timber about three inches square called a connecting rod, or driver marked E, which serves to vibrate the wash boards.;beaters or paddles. The crank to work the paddles with may be four inches long; and in order to make the shaft run more steadily it should have a balance wheel at F. There shculdbe two upright posts at G let into the side sills immediately oppositethe center of the box, about four feet long, and in the top of the same there should be a round hole in each to horizontal'beam;. from the center of said beam there should extend two arms marked I,.I, at a'n angle of about ifty 'degrees extending down nearly even with the side and end sills, which arms should be well secured together by a brace marked J, about their center, which brace should pass through a piece of timberl marked K let into theehori- Zontal beam H, immediately under theplace from rwhence the arms are fastened. will 4do without this pieceuof timber.) These timbers sh'ouldbe about four inches square*- less will do except the upright posts; they should be as large'or nearly so as the sills.` There should be a slitor Open ended mortise on the bottoln end of each arm L` L, at o, Z), to receive the ends of the timbers marked L L. lThe timber L L, may be made of three inch stuff, and should be about three by six at their bottom, L, L, to which the`wash receive a piece of timber at H, called the 3 boards or paddles marked c c 0 c are ati tached, which are made as follows.

The timber to which the paddles are attached should be about. four feet long or Veo p probably longer, owing to the distance from the end of the arms I, I, to the bottom of the Y c, c, making four pieces of plank marked "0', c', o, c, about one inch thick and from twelve .to fifteen inches wide making a square front from the end of each beater of four pieces of plank the width of the box and from six to eight inches thick or by putting in more pieces of plank any thickness that may be wanting, the said arms and timbers on which arethe paddles (the arms marked I, I, and the timber marked L, LJ forming nearly a square. Near one end of the hori zontal beam H, and on the under side there should be let in a strong picce Vof timberv marked M; this timber should be about four inches square and extend down nearly to the sill. and to the bottom end of the timber M. That marked E, and called the driver or connecting rod, should be attached by means of an'open mortise with a pin, which should be connected at the-Other end with the crank at D, so that b v turningthe crank by means of. the handle 0, it will set the whole* in motion and will run one set of the paddles down and draw the other up and so vice "be one more on each Outside as shown at,

versa so. that by one revolution of the main shaft both the paddles alternately ivill reach the bottom of the box, pressing, squeezing and turning over the clothes in Wash.

.N ear the ends of arms marked l, I, say Within six inches then for one foot there should be some of the timber shaved out in order to weaken them to make then spring in oase of too many Clothes being in the box and to prevent the sa'me from breaking in that case. rhe upper end of the timbers marked L L, should have several holes in order to raise them higher out of the box or let them lower down owing to the quantity of clothes in the box at a, er. You will then soap your clothes Well put in' a sufficient quantity of hat water in your hopper or box, throw your clothes, cloth or anything you may Wish washed right on top of the ends of your` Iwash paddles Vcommence turning at the crank by `which operation your clothes Will fall doivn between the ends of the Wash paddles by the operation of which they Will be pressed. squeezed and turned over and over and in a few minutes will be ready to change the Water. Two or three changes Will make theinentirely `clean Vso that you can do the Washing for" a large family in a few minutes. At one end of the box at the bottom should be a hole in order to let the dirty water run out of the same. It should be stopped When the vasl'iing is going on.

I disclaim the invention of the crank, Windlass, lever and driver but f That I clailnras my invention and dsire to secure by Letters Patent is#Y The manner of arranging Con'ibinind the paddles with the box, so that said 'p' dles may have their alternate Constant contei'iiporaneous motion up and down the sldes of the open box, in the manner aboy set forth.

October 4th day A. D. 1842. y r. FENTQRISS.

Vitness'es: Y Y Y JAS. MgGAiinTT, A. S. H'UMPHR'EYS. 

